Also called trastuzumab. A cancer treatment that uses antibodies. It is mainly used to treat women with advanced breast cancer. When the cancer has come back or has spread to other parts of the body, The drug works by sticking to a specific protein called HER2 found on the surface of some breast cancer cells. This causes the cancer cells to stop growing.
Unfortunately, HER2 is only found on about a fifth of breast cancers, so not all patients can benefit from Herceptin. The drug may be given as a treatment on its own or together with certain chemotherapy drugs. It is being used in trials to see whether it can reduce the chance of breast cancer returning, following initial treatment.